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- Dec 28, 2017
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So I've seen a lot of "scratching at the door" posts, mine might be slightly different so I decided to post. I already have the cat in the bedroom with me: she is a 12 year old foster/hospice cat. She's only been with us less than a week, so everything she does is new to us.
She stays in our bedroom for now so she can destress, and because she has a URI that I don't want her to pass to my other resident cats. So the first couple of days, she mostly slept. Now that she is feeling better and getting a little more "spunky", some habits are emerging that I'd like to re-direct, and scratching at the bathroom door is one of them. Last night she started scratching that door at 4:30am. I tried to ignore it but it got loud and I didn't want it to wake up my kids, so I actually let her in to the bathroom (I know, probably my first mistake). After a few minutes, I led her out and tried to go back to sleep, but she started scratching again. This time, I put stuff in the way to block her (some shoes and a pillow). That didn't deter her much. The next couple of hours followed this pattern - she would scratch at the door, I would either try to ignore or deter her in some way (including feeding, etc). but no luck.
So why does she want in the bathroom? Good question! There's really nothing in there: the only reason I can think of is that sometimes I use that bathroom to clean her food bowl so she thinks it's the precursor to food? But then, I fed her during this "ordeal" last night and she still scratched.
Obviously, I have 2 ways I could go: leave the bathroom door open (which comes with it's own set of challenges, it definitely isn't cat proofed in there), or get her to stop: and that's what I would need suggestions for, how to get her to stop. Thoughts?
She stays in our bedroom for now so she can destress, and because she has a URI that I don't want her to pass to my other resident cats. So the first couple of days, she mostly slept. Now that she is feeling better and getting a little more "spunky", some habits are emerging that I'd like to re-direct, and scratching at the bathroom door is one of them. Last night she started scratching that door at 4:30am. I tried to ignore it but it got loud and I didn't want it to wake up my kids, so I actually let her in to the bathroom (I know, probably my first mistake). After a few minutes, I led her out and tried to go back to sleep, but she started scratching again. This time, I put stuff in the way to block her (some shoes and a pillow). That didn't deter her much. The next couple of hours followed this pattern - she would scratch at the door, I would either try to ignore or deter her in some way (including feeding, etc). but no luck.
So why does she want in the bathroom? Good question! There's really nothing in there: the only reason I can think of is that sometimes I use that bathroom to clean her food bowl so she thinks it's the precursor to food? But then, I fed her during this "ordeal" last night and she still scratched.
Obviously, I have 2 ways I could go: leave the bathroom door open (which comes with it's own set of challenges, it definitely isn't cat proofed in there), or get her to stop: and that's what I would need suggestions for, how to get her to stop. Thoughts?
Since she has a URI and, in addition, has only been with you less than a week it may take some time to understand her habits. Please be patient. I know 4:30 a.m. is not the ideal time you want to wake up but she may be trying to get your attention by scratching the door. Do you play or interact with her before bedtime? 
